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CSU Rams getting attention from better recruits than before

Colorado State head football coach Jim McElwain is trying to lead his Rams to bigger and better things. (Andy Cross, Denver Post file )

FORT COLLINS — The reverse math was easier. Colorado State coach Jim McElwain had been on the road recruiting so long since the end of the football season that counting the number of days he was home became easier than totaling his days away from Fort Collins.

But it was all with one goal in mind: the rebuilding of the CSU brand.

Ask a prized football recruit about Colorado State a few years ago and you would probably get a "Colorado who?" in return. The Rams had to explain who they were and what they were about before they could start selling recruits on their program. McElwain, entering his second year at CSU, and his staff had to fight that uphill battle first.

In the 14 months since being hired, the new staff members appear to be gaining traction on the recruiting trail in their quest to upgrade the talent base. National signing day is Wednesday.

"The word is out that Colorado State is committed and the things that we're doing moving forward, people know are happening now," McElwain said. "And that's been great. The coaches we've been able to assemble, their previous relationships in certain areas they recruit have just blossomed. And now they've got something that they can really, really sell."

The evidence to back up the inroads Colorado State is making is best illustrated by this recruiting trail story: CSU had one last running back scholarship to fill. The last two vying for it were Kani Benoit of Phoenix and Houston-area running back Bryce Peters.

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Peters made the decision to attend Colorado State and gave the Rams' coaches an oral commitment, unbeknownst to Benoit. When Benoit made his decision, he opted to do so via a television broadcast. He put on a CSU hat during a high school all-star game and pledged his allegiance to the Rams, only to learn later that the scholarship had been claimed. Things turned out just fine for him, though, as he recently committed to Pac-12 power Oregon.

Still, Benoit's tale is a change for CSU. Good players are beginning to jockey for scholarships. Other universities came in late to try to get players who had committed to the Rams, such as CU's conversion of Mullen linebacker Timothy Coleman and Iowa swiping Dallas-area wide receiver Anjeus Jones. But Coleman's and Jones' decommitments quickly became scholarships for other players hoping to get one. Jones was replaced at wide receiver by 6-foot-4, 197-pound Sammie Long, a player who originally committed to Washington.

"All of a sudden, if we can get them on campus, and they get a true feel for what it's really like up here in Fort Collins, we've got a chance against anybody," McElwain said.

National Collegiate Scouting Association director of football Randy Taylor, a former recruiting coordinator at UCLA and UNLV, points to the head coach's leadership being more vital than ever in restoring a college's brand among recruits.

"That's what the great head coaches can do, whether they are new or older, is build that attitude and those expectations and perception," Taylor said. "If kids see you as a winner, they are going to want to be around you. And that, to me, is the biggest part. That can happen at Colorado State. It's just going to be whether they can do some things early and have some 'wow' factor that they can hang onto."

Coming off a 4-8 season in his first season, McElwain is expecting more "wow" this fall to help boost future recruiting. With a recruiting calendar that is as many as 18 months out, the coaching staff has already hosted prospects for 2014 and 2015.

"The one thing you can never step back from is recruiting," McElwain said. "If you don't recruit hard, it's going to get you in the end."

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